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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23970064">a bold stroke</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismaticuniverse/pseuds/prismaticuniverse'>prismaticuniverse</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Half of It (2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, years of my own gay repressed longing resulted in this word vomit at 2am</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:28:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23970064</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/prismaticuniverse/pseuds/prismaticuniverse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“To hell with it,” is what Ellie tells herself when she takes a leap of faith, over a chasm of darkness and doubt, leaping toward the girl she can see standing on the other side of the road that separates them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ellie Chu &amp; Aster Flores, Ellie Chu/Aster Flores</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a bold stroke</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1"><em>“To hell with it,”</em> is what Ellie tells herself when she takes a leap of faith, over a chasm of darkness and doubt, leaping toward the girl she can see standing on the other side of the road.</p><p class="p1">The kiss is bold, a clumsy and vibrant stroke across the surface of a canvas once painted over and perhaps the start of what could be a great painting. The callused palms that cup Aster’s face like a falling star are wire-tight, tense with a steely resolve to keep the moment sweet and short. Ellie thinks that if she lingers just a second too long, she may not be able to leave Hell-quamish behind tomorrow as easily as she hopes.</p><p class="p1">And Aster- Aster suddenly doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t quite know where she should put her hands even though she’s done this sort of thing countless times before. Not that Trig and Paul, bless their souls, could ever make her heart beat as restlessly as it does now, a flower blossoming deep within her chest.</p><p class="p1">It’s different. And it’s not like it never crossed her mind if things were different.</p><p class="p1">A beat later, and Aster throws caution like petals to the wind and lets her wandering hands settle almost tenderly on the other girl’s arms, finally sinking into the kiss as if Ellie Chu’s lips were her new favorite place. <em>“And they may as well be,” </em>Aster thinks, because she feels like she’s floating somewhere between the sky and the sea, joyful and free and weightless. Unbearably light.</p><p class="p1">As quickly as the kiss begins, Ellie pulls back and ends it with a quip that leaves Aster startled and breathless, dark eyes still half-lidded and dazed. “I’ll see you in a couple years!” She spins on a green Converse-clad heel to retrieve her trusty bike like it’s a matter of life or death, never once looking back, and Aster, dumbstruck, simply stares as her face breaks into a brilliant grin.</p><p class="p1"><em>I'll see you in a couple of years</em>- it’s a promise made on a shooting star.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>after promising that i wouldn't write any sort of fic because i planned to camp on ao3, i ended up making an account for the first time and wrote this in a possessed stupor at like 2am lol.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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